BONGO DOG BAND – NO MATTER WHO YOU VOTE FOR THE GOVERNMENT GETS IN THE WAY

PET SHOP BOYS – BUILDING A WALL

THE JESUS AND MARYCHAIN (LEONARD COHEN) – TOWER OF SONG

GOSSIP – STANDING IN THE WAY OF CONTROL

KD LANG (LEONARD COHEN) – HALLELUJAH (LIVE @ CANADIAN OLYMPICS)

A FITTING SONG FOR THESE TIMES (EVERYBODY KNOWS – L.COHEN)

Everybody knows that the dice are loaded
Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed
Everybody knows that the war is over
Everybody knows the good guys lost
Everybody knows the fight was fixed
The poor stay poor, the rich get rich
That’s how it goes
Everybody knows

Everybody knows that the boat is leaking
Everybody knows that the captain lied
Everybody got this broken feeling
Like their father or their dog just died

Everybody talking to their pockets
Everybody wants a box of chocolates
And a long stem rose
Everybody knows

Everybody knows that you love me baby
Everybody knows that you really do
Everybody knows that you’ve been faithful
Ah give or take a night or two
Everybody knows you’ve been discreet
But there were so many people you just had to meet
Without your clothes
And everybody knows

Everybody knows, everybody knows
That’s how it goes
Everybody knows

Everybody knows, everybody knows
That’s how it goes
Everybody knows

And everybody knows that it’s now or never
Everybody knows that it’s me or you
And everybody knows that you live forever
Ah when you’ve done a line or two
Everybody knows the deal is rotten
Old Black Joe’s still pickin’ cotton
For your ribbons and bows
And everybody knows

And everybody knows that the Plague is coming
Everybody knows that it’s moving fast
Everybody knows that the naked man and woman
Are just a shining artifact of the past
Everybody knows the scene is dead
But there’s gonna be a meter on your bed
That will disclose
What everybody knows

And everybody knows that you’re in trouble
Everybody knows what you’ve been through
From the bloody cross on top of Calvary
To the beach of Malibu
Everybody knows it’s coming apart
Take one last look at this Sacred Heart
Before it blows
And everybody knows

And while I’m here, world, my country fucked up. Our president-to-be is a dangerous demagogue. To be very, very clear, the majority of the actual votesDID NOT favor the orange shitgibbon. In fact, the Democrats have won six of the last six elections by popular vote alone. We have what we call an Electoral College. Its existence is as old and as worn out as racism in this country and that’s how our final election results are calculated. At least one state has decided to buck the EC and go with the popular vote. Yay, Maryland! (Unfortunately, the plan would only take effect “if states representing a majority of the nation’s 538 electoral votes decided to make the same change.”)

Recently in America, we’ve enacted an endless amount of money from corporations (Citizens United) to pour into our elections because apparently corporations are people, but people are not people so much, in this country. We have a pair of brothers here named Koch who vowed to spend $1B on our elections to elect those who, in part, would allow massive corporate deregulations and reduced/zeroed taxes on corporations. It would appear they’ve succeeded (see: Citizens United/endless amount of $$ above.)

We also managed to eradicated a 50+ year old law that protects minority voters in US states that didn’t mind buying and owning black people, but who sure as hell don’t want to share a vote with them now. Oh, and have I spoken about gerrymandering yet? Did I also mention the MASSIVE voter fraud (cough) going on? So much so, the Republicans had to make sure most every college student, Latino, African American (et.al.) would be hard pressed to be able to place their vote ever again without blaring obstacles. Never mind that actual voter fraud in this country is next to zero… unless you were able to considert electronic voting machines.

EVMs are basically easy election stealers. They leave no paper trail and are proven to be easily hacked. They cost states billions, sit in warehouses without updates or repairs, and are owned mainly by Republican-leaning corporations who have extremely tight proprietary rights to all of the programming information contained within each machine.

The shitgibbon may become my president but he will never speak for me or the majority of my fellow American citizens.

In other fucked up news, the prolific Canadian songwriter, Leonard Cohen, died yesterday. It’s been one helluva year.